Wellness Library : Benefits of Employee Health Promotion Programs*
Posted in Corporate Wellness, Wellness Library | By admin | Tags: Corporate Wellness, health, medical, Wellness Library
The costs of medical care have been rising more than ten percent each year for several years. A substantial amount of the money spent in the medical care system treats costly illnesses and diseases.
• Approximately 95 percent of the $1.4 trillion that we spend as a nation on health goes to direct medical services, while about 5 percent is allocated to preventing disease and promoting health.
• Potentially, 50 percent to 70 percent of all diseases are avoidable as they are associated with modifiable health risks.
• In an effort to optimize employee health, lower preventable medical utilization and enhance work achievement, and in turn reduced medical expenditures and improve employee satisfaction and retention, many organizations are developing, or are interested in developing, Worksite Wellness Programs for workers.
The benefits of workplace wellness are well documented. Greater than 120 research studies repeatedly show themes such as improvements in health outcomes coupled with high returns on investment (ROI). Some primary findings include the following:
• Savings of $3.48 in reduced medical costs per dollar invested.
• Savings of $5.82 in decrease absenteeism expenditures per dollar invested.
• ROIs of at least $3 to $8 per dollar invested within five years of program implementation.
• Lifestyle behavior change programs: $3 to $6 return on investment within 2 to 5 years.
• Self care, decision support programs: $2 to $3 ROI within a year.
• Disease Management (DM) programs: $7 to $10 ROI within a year.
By offering health improvement programs, businesses are not only offering an additional service for staff members, but they are also gaining fiscally. Furthermore, the effect of a health improvement program goes beyond decreased medical cost and ROI. A health improvement program can affect work rate, absenteeism, morale, recruitment success, turnover, and medical costs.
• Source: Rees, C., and Finch, R. (2004). Health Improvement: A comprehensive guide to designing, implementing and evaluating worksite programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.
Tags: Corporate Wellness, health, medical, Wellness Library